Effects of Integrated Rice-Frog Farming on Paddy Field Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Kaikai Fang, Xiaomei Yi, Wei Dai, Hui Gao and Linkui Cao
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Kaikai Fang: School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
Xiaomei Yi: School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
Wei Dai: School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
Hui Gao: School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
Linkui Cao: School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Integrated rice-frog farming (IRFF), as a mode of ecological farming, is fundamental in realizing sustainable development in agriculture. Yet its production of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains unclear. Here, a randomized plot field experiment was performed to study the GHG emissions for various farming systems during the rice growing season. The farming systems included: conventional farming (CF), green integrated rice-frog farming (GIRF), and organic integrated rice-frog farming (OIRF). Results indicate that the cumulative methane (CH 4 ) emissions from the whole growth period were divergent for the three farming systems, with OIRF having the highest value and CF having the lowest. For nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions, the order is reversed. IRFF significantly increased the dissolved oxygen (DO), soil redox potential (Eh), total organic carbon (TOC) content, and soil C:N ratio, which is closely related to GHG emissions in rice fields. Additionally, the average emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from soils during rice growing seasons ranged from 2312.27 to 2589.62 kg ha −1 and showed no significant difference in the three treatments. Rice yield in the GIRF and OIRF were lower (2.0% and 16.7%) than the control. The CH 4 emissions contributed to 83.0–96.8% of global warming potential (GWP). Compared to CF, the treatment of GIRF and OIRF increased the GWP by 41.3% and 98.2% during the whole growing period of rice, respectively. IRFF significantly increased greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI, 0.79 kg CO 2 -eq ha −1 grain yield), by 91.1% over the control. Compared to the OIRF, GIRF decreased the GHGI by approximately 39.4% (0.59 kg CO 2 -eq ha −1 grain yield), which was 44.2% higher than that of the control. The results of structural equation model showed that the contribution of fertilization to CH 4 emissions in paddy fields was much greater than that of frog activity. Moreover, frog activity could decrease GWP by reducing CH 4 emissions from rice fields. And while GIRF showed a slight increase in GHG emissions, it could still be considered as a good strategy for providing an environmentally-friendly option in maintaining crop yield in paddy fields.

Keywords: integrated rice-frog farming; fertilization; methane; nitrous oxide; global warming potential; structural equation model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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